Method of and apparatus for filling gas cigar and cigarette lighters



March 23 1965 J. c. PlzzURRo ETAL 3,174,519

METHOD 0F AND APPARATUS FOR FILLING GAS CIGAR AND CIGARETTE LIGHTERS Filed Feb. 2o, 1962 I y Y Vl W 7 N w la N 4| INVENTORS J'osEPl-l CHARLES PlzzuReO EDWARD RICHARD YuHAs BY w l QM..

ATTORNEY United States Patent "i York Filed Feb. 20, 1962, Ser. No. 174,551 1 Claim. (Cl. 141-295) This invention relates to the re-filling of so-called gas cigarette and cigar lighters, more particularly, that type of l-ighter having a reservoir adapted to be charged with butane, isobutane, propane, a mixture of one or more thereof, or any other highly volatile hydrocarbon fuel, which issues, as vapor, from a burner tube to be ignited by sparks from a friction wheel. The fuel reservoir of such a lighter is provided with a filler tube having therein a check valve in the form of a spring pressed ball, normally seated against a resilient O-ring to seal the charging passage through the filler tube of the lighter against leakage of the fuel therethrough. The fuel reservoir is adapted to be re-charged from time to time from a refill container having therein av supply of pressurized liquid fuel and provided with a nozzle adapted to be manually pressed into the filler tube of the reservoir to unseat the ball valve and simultaneously enter into the inner opening of the O-ring seat thereof to form therewith a hermetic seal, so that the fuel within the refill container may be fed into the reservoir of the lighter without leakage around the nozzle.

In the re-filling of lighters as hereinbefore described, the liquid fuel is fed into the reservoir while the ball valve is unseated and so long as the nozzle makes a hermetic seal with the O-ring. With such an arrangement, the user may, and `frequently does, feed fuel from the refill container into said reservoir until the reservoir is completely filled With liquid fuel. When this has been done, the subsequent production of sparks at the outer end of the burner tube will result in the ignition of liquid fuel rather than gaseous fuel. This dangerous condition will continue :through a number of successive uses of the lighter until sufficient liquid fuel has been burned to provide a vapor space above the liquid fuel in the reservoir, which vapor results from the volatilization of the liquid fuel.

Our experiments and repeated tests have shown that, `if an insufficient amount of liquid fuel is fed into the reservoir, frequent refills are necessary, whereas if the reservoir is completely filled with a liquid hydrocarbon, the undesirable feed of such liquid from the burner tube will result.

We have thoroughly demonstrated that the ideal procedure is to so refuel the reservoir that, at the conclusion of the re-filling oper-ation, the reservoir will contain the maximum amount of liquid fuel commensurate with the provisions therein of adequate head space for ignitab-le vapor. The object of this invention is to provide a method 4and apparatus whereby this is accomplished and assured.

In practically carrying out the method of this invention the refilling operation is performed in such manner as to actually fill the reservoir with liquid fuel through an adapter associated with the relill container and to so constitute the parts that, as such vadapter is withdrawn from the filling tube of the reservoir, the reservoir is vented to the atmosphere during a period of very short duration before the ball valve actually closes to seal such reservoir. There results an instantaneous puff or blow-off through the filling tubeof a sufficient quantity of the liquid fuel which 'had been introduced into the 3,174,519 Patented Mar. 23, 1965` ICC reservoir to leave head space in the reservoir for the gaseous vapor, autogeneously generated in such space by gassification of the liquid fuel in such reservoir. v

At the conclusion of such a refilling operation, the reservoir contains a body of gaseous vapor in the head space, in condition to be discharged through the burner tube so that the lighter will operate to burn gaseous vapor exclusively, from the very first use of the lighter thereafter and until the entire contents of the lighter reservoir have been exhausted.

Features of the invention, other than those adverted to, will be apparent from the hereinafter description and appended claim, when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

The accompanying drawings illustrate one practical embodirnent of the invention, but the construction therein shown is to be understood as illustrative, only, and not as defining the limits of the invention.

FIG. 1 is a central section through a portion of a,

lighter, `showing the filling tube in central section and in normally sealed condition, `said section shows, also in centr-al section, the adapter of the present invention about to be introduced into the filling tube of the lighter.

FIG. 2 is a like section of the parts 'shown in FIG. l, with the `adapter in filling position with respect to the filling tube and the tubular valve stem of a refill container.

PIG. 3 is a View similar to FIG. 2, but showing the adapter and valve stem at one stage in the withdrawal of the adapter from thefilling tube after the reservoir of the lighter has been filled with liquid fuel.

Referring to the drawings, 1 designates a conventional' form of filling tube, permanently attached to the casing 2 of `a conventional gas lighter provided therein with a' reservoir 3 adapted to receive `and contain the fuel, the vapor from which is adapted to issue from the burner tube to be ignited by the usual sparking wheel.

The lower portion of the filling tube is internally threaded as at 4 to receive the usual threaded plug (not shown) which is adapted to be screwed into the threads' 4 with its gasketed head `seated against a shoulder 5 to form a closure at the outer end of said tube when the' lighter is in normal use between refilling operations.

Above the threaded portion of the tube 1 is an annular seat 6 in which is positioned a gasket 7, usualy in the,

form of an O-ring. Abal-l check valve 8 cooperates with the seat and is normally pressed into engagement there- 1with by a spring 9. The upper end of the tube has anV opening 10 through which refill fuel is adapted 4to pass into the reservoir 3 when such fuel is fed past lthe ball,

valve 8 during a refilling operation.

All of the parts thus far described are conventional' and form no part of lthe present invention except as they are used during a re-flling operation.

The adapter of the present invention, as shown in the several figures of the drawings, comprises a head 11 having on its under side a socket 12 adapted to receive in close filling relation to the free end of a tubular valve stem of a pressurized container, such as an aerosol con- This tainer having therein liquid fuel under pressure. fuel is normally held in restraint in the container by a normally closed valve which is adapted to be opened toy permit flow of liquid from the container through the tubular valve stem 13 when said valve stem is pressed in the direction of the container. Any appropriate and conventional aerosol container having therein the necessary fuel and provided with a tubular valve stem to fit into the socket 12 may be used with this adapter. By way of concrete example, an aerosol container, such as shown in;

Robert H. Abplanalp Patent No. 2,631,814 may be employed as a refill container in carrying out this invention by simply removing from the valve stem the push button shown in saidd patent as mounted on the outer end of the valve stem. For the purpose of concrete disclosure, said Abplanalp patent is incorporated herein by reference.

The head 11 of the adapter is provided with a tubular Ifzzl-14' having therein a passage 1 5 which extends through the headA 11 to the socket 12. The upper end of this nozzle is preferably slotted as shown at 16 and superimposed uponl the head 11 is agasket 17 made of relatively soft material, s'uchas rubber or plastic.

In accordance with this invention, the gasket 17 confacts and forms a hermetic seal with a surface of the lighter which is exposed when the plug is removed. This is` provided, in the form o'f the invention shown, by making the head 11 of the adapter of a diameter to enter the outer end of the filling tube 1, so that it may seat against the shoulder 5 thereof when the gasket is brought into engagement with this shoulder, as shown in FIG. 2.

In all prior refilling ydevices of which we are aware, the nozzle, which unseats the check valve of the filling tbe and through which fuel is introduced into the lighter reservoir, has an external diameter greater than the internal diameter of the O-ring seat of such check valve. Consequently, the nozzle must be forced through the opening in said O-rin'g in order to form a hermetic seal therewith before the check valve can be unseated. Thus, in such prior devices, the hermetric seal between the interior of the lighter reservoir and the atmosphere is made at the O-ring. With this arrangement a person refilling the reservoir from a refill container may permit the refilling operation to continue until the reservoir is completely filled with liquid fuel. When such prior refilling devices `have been used, the withdrawal of the nozzle of the refill container willpermit the check valve to seat before disengagement of the nozzle therewith and thus before breaking the seal between said nozzle and the gasket of the check valve. As a result of this procedure, the reservoir of the lighter may be left completely filled with liquid fuel and left in this dangerous condition. It is this condition against which the present invention forms a safegiiard, I

As hereinbefore stated, the purpose of this invention is to insure the provision of a gaseous head space at each refilling operation. It is for this reason that certain particularities of this invention are incorporated in our adapter. That is` to say, the external diameter of the nozzle 14` is made less than the internal diameter of the O-ring 7 so that, when introduced into the filling tube to unseat thewclieck valve 8, space will be left between the outer diameter of the nozzle and the inner diameter of said O- ring. Also the length of the nozzle is such that, when the gasket 17 is pressed against the lshoulder 5 of the tube 1, it forms the hermetic seal at this point, while the free end of the shank is unseating the check valve S to permit thepassage of liquid fuel past said valve, as shown in FIG. 2. Furthermore the nozzle must be of such length that it will permit the spring 9 to reseat the check valve on the O-rin'g 7 after the adapter has been withdrawn from Contact with the end of the filling tube 1, to break the hermetic seal at this point. This distance should 'notqb'e great, but` it must be sufficient to open communication between the interior of the reservoir 3 of the lighter and the outer atmosphere and thus vent said reservoirfor a veryvshort interval of time, during the withdrawal of the nozzle from contact with the check valve 4to permit seating of the latter. During this very short venting interval, the ,pressure of the fuel within said reservoirwill cause a sufiicient portion of it to puff out, as indicatedy at P in FIG. 3, to thereby leave room in the head space of the reservoir for gaseous vapor which will immediately form from liquid fuel therein. In this manner the provision of a head space of gas is assured and, although the lighter is immediately thereafter used, only gaseous vapor will issue from the burner tube 2.

In the refilling of a lighter as hereinbefore described, the venting period is practically instantaneous so that irelatively little liquid fuel is discharged in the puff referred to, but it has been found to be adequate for the formation of the desired vapor head space.

From the foregoing description, the modus operandi of this invention will be apparent. However, actual manipulation of the parts by the operator is as follows:

The screw plug, which normally engages the threads 4, is removed from the lighter. The nozzle of the adapter, which generally remains attached to the tubular valve stem 13 of the pressurized refill container containing liquid fuel, is entered into the filling ltube 1 and pressed aganst the ball check valve 8 to unseat the check valve, as shown in FIG. 2, and bring the gasket 17 into contact with the shoulder 5 of the tube to form therewith an impervious seal. The spring 9 in the filler tube is a relatively light spring as compared with the spring which normally seats the valve 8 of the refill contaner and consequently the forcing of this container in the direction of the lighter will readily unseat the check valve and form the impervious seal between the gasket 17 and shoulder 5. Further pressure applied to the refill container in the direction indicated by the arrow 19 in the drawings, will cause unseating of the valve 8 so that liquid fuel will be fed from the re-fill container into the reservoir 3 as indicated by small arrows in FIG. 2.

After a sufficient amount of liquid fuel has been introduced into the reservoir 3 to fill said reservoir, the refill container with attached adapter is withdrawn as usual with devices of this kind, but during the brief venting hercinbefore described, the puff of liquid fuel, indicated at P in FIG. 3, will occur, followed by the immediate seating of the check valve 8, thus completing the refilling operation.

After withdrawal of the refill container and adapter, the conventional sealing plug to which we have referred is screwed into Ithe bottom of the filling tube and the lighter is ready for use.

The foregoing detailed description sets forth the invention in its preferred practical forms, but the inventon is to be understood as fully commensurate with the appended claim.

Having thus fully described the invention, what we claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

A refilling adapter for a gas lighter reservoir which has a filling tube provided with a spring pressed check valve normally seating against an annular gasket, said adapter comprising: a head provided with a socket to receive the tubular valve stem of a pressurized refill container, said head also having a gasket to enter into a recess in the reservoir and engage with and form a seal with the outer end of the filling tube, and a nozzle projecting beyond said gasket and recess into the filling tube for unseating the check valve of the filling tube as the gasket is moved into sealing relation with the exposed end of the filling tube, said nozzle being of less diameter than the internal diameter of the gasket seat for the check valve, said nozzle being of sufficient length to hold the check valve unseated for a short interval of time as the adapter is withdrawn from the filling tube of the lighter after filling of the reservoir to permit instantaneous venting of the reservoir, whereby sufficient liquid is discharged from the reservoir to provide a vapor head space in said reservoir.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 201,634 3/78 Seal 251-353 542,795 7/95 Cary 251-353 XR 935,048 9/09 McNellis 137-231 1,614,780 1/27 Ehlers 251-354 XR 2,989,091 6/ 61 Lowenthal 141-349 XR FOREIGN PATENTS 355,167 8/ 61 Switzerland.

LAVERNE D. GEIGER, Primary Examiner. 

